Donovan McNabb speaks out about benching
Quarterback Donovan McNabb still wants to stay with the Washington redskins, despite what has happened in the past few weeks and earlier in the season. He said that he hoped to continue with the Redskins, and has made wishes clear to the franchise.
“I don’t want to go anywhere,” McNabb said in his first public appearance since Coach Mike Shanahan benched McNabb in last week’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. McNabb was asked if he wanted to be traded or released, and his answer was a definitive no.
“I want to be here. I really do,” adding that he didn’t believe in starting something and not seeing it through to the end.
Last week backup Rex Grossman replaced the veteran quarterback against the Cowboys. He completed 25 of 43 attempts for four touchdowns, and threw two interceptions in the game. His passer ratings were 93.4, but the Redskins still lost the game. This was
Grossman’s first start since 2008. McNabb has had a higher passer rating only twice in 13 games. For 14 touchdowns McNabb has thrown 15 interceptions. His overall passer rating this season is just 77.1.
McNabb has now been demoted to third quarterback for the Washington Redskins. In the event that Grossman cannot start for Washington, John Beck would be the team’s next choice, and only then would McNabb be considered. The quarterback was not aware of these
changes by the coaches when he met with Shanahan last Thursday. In fact he first found out about the demotion when he heard about it from ‘ESPN and everything else.’
The quarterback made it clear that he believed the coach’s decision was wrong, and ‘somewhat disrespectful’ but reiterated that the relationship between himself and Shanahan had not suffered due to the benching. He said that Grossman needed more time to
integrate himself into Washington’s system, and the timing of the sacking was not helpful.
The one thing that McNabb was particularly displeased about was how the message was relayed down to him. He said that the Redskins had not communicated the changes to the depth chart properly to him, but stopped short of calling anyone unprofessional.
“Normally if you go through a process like that, you'd hear about it on a Monday or a Tuesday,” he said. “I don't think you pretty much hear about it Thursday going to a Friday practice.” Shanahan had told McNabb that he was not being given a guaranteed
starting position when he was offered a contract extension with Washington.
“As far as the guarantee is concerned, I really wasn't looking for a guarantee,” McNabb said. “I wanted to hear thoughts, what are you thinking. None of that really truly was expressed.” His $78 million contract extension pays him just $3.5 million this
year. The Washington Redskins could cut McNabb out before the 2011 season, without having to make any additional payments to him.
Earlier this season Shanahan benched McNabb in the middle of a game and things have been unsteady ever since. Instead of clearly stating his reasons, Shanahan was evasive and made up excuses for calling McNabb out of the game. The quarterback was puzzled
and surprised, but said then as now that the relationship between the two was still professional.
“I thought we had a pretty decent relationship, one that was growing. I still feel somewhat that way. ...I thought we had a good relationship. I don't know. From my side of things, I thought we had a good relationship, yes indeed," he said.
Coach Shanahan said that his decision to bench McNabb should not be considered a poor reflection on the player. He said that the Redskins had already been eliminated from the playoffs, and he wanted to use the last few regular season games to determine for
future starting quarterbacks. “This is all about where to go, not where we've been.”
Shanahan systematically turned down all speculations about his decision to bench McNabb. He denied that the tumultuous relationship between offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, the coach’s son, and McNabb influenced his decision. “I want to do what's best
for the Redskins franchise,” Shanahan said. “That's been it from day one.”
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